Macquarie chops staff and bonuses

Macquarie Group
has shed more than 1350 staff over the past 12 months and cut the bonuses of some bankers for the fourth year running, as lacklustre business volumes across many units forced it to strip out more than $400 million in expenses.

Staff at the former “Millionaire Factory" learned their year-end bonus or profit share on Friday, with insiders saying some employees were dealt zeros while others saw reductions of 10 per cent to 20 per cent. Those who received increases in their bonus were few, concentrated in Macquarie’s annuities-style businesses, and reflecting tough conditions across its market facing divisions.

But as the saying goes “the bonus is you have a job", one Macquarie banker told the Weekend Financial Review.

“No one had high expectations, so no one was too disappointed."

Asked whether Macquarie’s shareholders were subsidising the firm’s bonus pool, via a $500 million buyback of shares, Mr Moore on Friday responded, “It’s the shareholders that are getting the benefit."

Macquarie cut about 8 per cent of its global workforce in the year to March 31, with 885 jobs lost in Australia. Much of it was accounted for by the centralisation of head office functions like human resources, information technology and business services.

Related Quotes

Company Profile

Macquarie paid out nearly $19 million to three retiring executives including former Macquarie Securities and Capital boss Roy Laidlaw who was handed $8.1 million, former deputy CEO Richard Sheppard and former Macquarie Capital boss
Michael Carapiet
.